DEEP-SEA, BIOLUMINESCENT, & BIOFLUORESCENT FISHES

Marine fishes are the only bioluminescent vertebrates, and this ability to emit light has evolved dozens of times within bony fishes, representing nearly 5% of all teleosts. Bioluminescent fishes are often deep-sea dwellers, but many groups (e.g., ponyfishes, toadfishes) are found in shallow waters. The lab's current emphasis is to combine molecular data from several bioluminescent and bioflourescent clades and the whole ray-finned fish tree of life to broadly examine the evolution of these luminescent systems in a phylogenetic context.